Monday, 5 August 2013

Ponified Magic the Gathering: The Complete* Round-up

I've seen plenty of ponified Magic the Gathering cards before, but I've never played the game myself. Today, I headed to DeviantArt to put together a post - and was absolutely blindsided by the scale of the game.Below the break, I've rounded up a long list of galleries and tried to make sense of it all. I can't guarantee that every set's balanced, but I'm sure you can put together one heck of a game! Buckle up - this one's a doozy.

The "Creatures and Artifacts" section of this gallery has one of the most complete sets of Equestrian creatures I've seen, from Ursas to Lake Turtles. The "Unponied" section contains a set of ponified anti-cards - introduce these into your game with extreme caution.

This gallery mostly sticks to characters and plot devices directly from the show, although there are a fair number of OC pony cards thrown in. In this set, cards such as Denial, Acceptance, and Depression are treated as Creatures rather than Sorceries or Instants.

To be honest, this is probably the gem of the set. Boasting nearly four hundred cards split mainly between the Solar Empire and the New Lunar Republic, rowcla's galleries are nothing if not comprehensive. The sets focus mainly on character cards, many drawn in an endearing cartoonish style that seems to be original.

In addition to the standard fare, this gallery includes the corrupted versions of each of the mane six - Rainbow Dash, the Betrayer; Applejack, the Unreliable; Fluttershy, Enemy of the Meek; Twilight Sparkle, Friendless; Pinkie Pie, Vicious and Suspicious; and Rarity, Posessor of All.

The Ponylude set comes designed with balance and playability in mind, something which is noticeably hit or miss among even the larger card galleries. A very character-focused deck, it includes most ponies from seasons one and two - however, there are no cards related to season three, as the set was completed before the season aired.

While most of the cards in this set are simple and utilitarian, it comes with a full set of the Elements of Harmony and a variety of background ponies. Plenty of Discord-related cards and land tiles for a healthy, balanced deck.

For a time, Shards of Equestria was the most promising ponified MtG set in existence, even going so far as to enable online play and have cards printed. Unfortunately, as they began efforts to distribute the set, the creators received a Cease and Desist notice that shut down the project. Fortunately, the entire library of cards still exists online!

This expansive set is the most organized of any on this list - to such an extent that I couldn't link every gallery category. With dynamic text and art, and more lighthearted cards like That Fandom Is Fast and Animation Error, this gallery rivals rowcla's for supremacy and is my personal favorite. It even includes print sheets for those of you who want to play a ponified game but don't want to go to the trouble of printing them out yourself.

This set strikes me as one of the most MtG-esque in its titling and carefully selected fanart. It's a little darker and more serious than some of the other sets, but not without a little levity (see above.)

Phew! That's all for today. If I've missed your favorite gallery, leave a note in the comments! I'll be updating this post over the next few days. Now, I can't possibly review every pony MtG set out there on my own. If you've tried one, do the rest of us a favor and put your thoughts in the comments!